Adventures in Dogsitting

[AdminAssistant]

I'm dogsitting my friend's 3 year old Yorkshire Terrier. I got here Friday night. About 10 minutes after I pulled into the drive, the power went out. The next morning, I got out of the shower...*sniff* *sniiiffff* Um, that's gas! Get dried off and dressed, grab the dog, go outside and call the gas company. He didn't find a gas leak, but he did say that the water heater was emitting carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide. So, he shut off the water heater. Call friend, she calls landlord, landlord says the plumber will be out Monday. Plumber comes out, new water heater, yay hot water!

On to the next crisis! Last night, I was taking the dog on his evening potty trip, when he spotted a corncob that some of friend's lovely neighbors had tossed out in the yard. Unfortunately, he got to it before I could stop him and I had to fight him to get it back, and I do think he swallowed some of it. Lovely. And today, he keeps throwing up. He's thrown up.....five times that I know of. So, now I'm keeping him in the kitchen, which he does not like. Friend isn't worried, and I know I shouldn't be worried, but I can't help it! So, I've decided to not feed him tonight and see if this too shall pass and see if he keeps his breakfast down tomorrow morning. *sigh* Is this the best thing to do?

And I have rehearsal tonight. YAY.

[Greenday]

I'd personally feed him regardless. Otherwise his stomach will only be emptier. Normally when my dog eats something weird, he pukes for a lil bit then he's over it.

[AdminAssistant]

Well, I tried giving him a treat and it came straight back up. He's not really interested in his actual food at all. I took him for a walk, and on our way back to the house he just laid down, then threw up (again) just stomach bile. I mean, he's puked....gosh, 7 or 8 times now that I know of.

[draggar]

Is he drinking water?

[AdminAssistant]

I got "home" (her house, of course, not mine) to a kitchen with many little puddles of doggy vomit. Some with blood. It looked like he had tried to drink water and it all came back up.

I'm calling the vet first thing tomorrow. Poor little guy. He seems to be okay, just very tired. And I've been home about 30 minutes and he hasn't wretched yet. *crosses fingers*

[AdminAssistant]

He's at the vet. I cleaned up the floor the best I could (who doesn't own a mop? Seriously, a swiffer is not gonna take care of this!) with a hot soapy rag so that when he gets home it won't smell like doggy puke and I've vacuumed to make sure there isn't anything small he could get his little paws on. Friend is a little stressed out and worried, but I told her everything was okay. I don't know if they've found anything yet; I told the vet to just call her for any decisions and just let me know when he was ready to come home.

I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night. This may sound really selfish, but I hope the vet keeps him long enough that I can get a nap.

[AdminAssistant]

Well, Friend told the vet not to run any lab tests *sigh* I mean, I understand that money is tight, but..c'mon! So, they gave him fluids and anti-nausea meds and sent me home with bland food to start him on tomorrow morning.

I'm still really worried. The vet told me I could put an ice cube in his waterbowl tonight if I wanted, but I'd rather not have another sleepless night of listening to doggy wretch his guts up.

[Greenday]

What kind of food are you giving him anyway? Dry food, wet food.

[AdminAssistant]

Right now he's got 'wet' food (although it's pretty dry and crumbly). It's special 'bland' food, Hill's Prescription Diet i/d. I gave him a teaspoon this morning, and he went nuts for it (poor guy hadn't eaten in two days). That was an hour ago, and no barf so far. *crosses fingers* If he keeps it down, it's a teaspoon every 3-4 hours today, a tablespoon every 3-4 hours tomorrow, and mixing the rest of the bland food with a little of his regular food the rest of the week.

He usually eats dry Science Diet Lite. 1/2 cup, twice a day.

[AdminAssistant]

I'M GOING HOME!

Friend called me and they're cutting their vacation short (due to reasons unrelated to doggie) and she's just going to have him stay at the vet until they get back.

I'm sad that the puppy is so sick and bummed for her having to leave early but.....I am unbelievably excited to sleep in MY bed tonight.

[XCashier]

I can understand you've been a bit stressed, what with the problems with the power, water heater, litterbug neighbors and the dog. Isn't that how it goes, Murphy's Law! Sheesh.

I hope the dog will be fine, that it's nothing more than an irritated stomach and he'll be back on his paws in no time!

[AdminAssistant]

Well, I got a message from Friend.

Doggie had to have surgery to remove two large pieces of corncob...which he got a hold of while he was in MY care. He had to have x-rays and a tube down his tummy before they could do the surgery. Total cost: $1,500. I told her I could reimburse her in August...I barely have enough money to live right now, but I'll get a loan check when school starts.

I feel just awful. This was all MY fault....and because of that, the little dog went through all that trauma and Friend is out a lot of money. I just feel really guilty right now, that's all.

[RootedPhoenix]

*offers hugs* That's awful.

[AdminAssistant]

Gaaaahhhh!!!! (Sorry, thread necromancy)

So, even though I offered to reimburse J for the surgery, she just asked for a refund of what she paid me. Fair enough. I thought things were kind of okay; we didn't hang out or talk this summer, but folks are busy so....

Anyway, there was this departmental back-to-school thing last night. I see J...and get the feeling that she's avoiding me. She's sitting behind me, so at one point I turn around and ask, "So, how was your summer?" or something like that. She turned and said, "Fine" with a tone that literally lowered the temperature of the entire room, and then immediately turned away. I mean, I understand if she doesn't want to be best buddy-buds and have me over for tea and cookies. But...can we not even have a polite conversation? Is she going to hate me that much? It was an accident. That I have repeatedly apologized for. I've offered to pay for the surgery. I don't know what else I can do to try to make things right.

So, I wrote out a note saying as much and am going to put it in her box today. It might be a while before she gets it, since she isn't in classes or taking classes. But I don't know what else to do. I'm kind of getting the feeling that she's projecting stress from other things onto this..but I can't be sure.

[XCashier]

I'm sorry J is giving you the cold shoulder. You are not at fault; if anyone is to blame, it's the moron who threw the corncob into the yard (seriously, who throws their garbage into their neighbors' yard?!).